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THOMAS AQUINAS DEBATES THOMAS AQUINAS AND LOSES
Round One
According to the RC Church, here is the part of the Athanasian creed that one must
believe to be saved:
"The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father
alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the
Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding."
Here is Thomas Aquinas' explanation of "The Absence of Succession in God" taken
from The Light of Faith page 13 (ISBN 0-965-057895):
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"Clearly, therefore, no succession occurs in God. His entire existence is simultaneous.
Succession is not found except in things that are in some way subject to motion; for
prior and posterior to motion cause the extension of time. God, however, is in no sense
subject to motion, as has been shown. Accordingly, there is no succession in God. His
existence is simultaneously whole.
"Again, if a being's existence is not simultaneously whole, something can be lost to it
and something can accrue to it. That which passes is lost, and what is expected in the
future can be acquired. But nothing is lost to God and nothing accrues to Him since
He is immutable. Therefore His existence is simultaneously whole."
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CARMEN:
If "The Son is of the Father alone" it makes the son become a being with an atttribute
of succession, but as Aquinas stated, "there is no succession in God" and therefore,
according to Aquinas, Jesus cannot be God because he would have an attribute of succession.
Similarly, if "The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor
created, nor begotten, but proceeding", then we have a compounded succession, that is
Jesus possessing an attribute of succession, would be causing a being with an attribute
of double succession, first from the father to Jesus and then from Jesus to the holy
ghost in conjunction with the father. So the son is not God because of a primary
succession from the father, and the holy spirit is not God because of a secondary
succession from Jesus combined with a primary succession from the father.
In all cases, Aquinas has proven, using his own arguments, that the trinity is not
intellectually nor theologically supportable because the triune godhead will have
consisted of a god who accretes, and that is most theologically absurd.
However, the one true God, not the mythological trinity, is theologically and
intellectually supportable because the one true God is simultaneously whole, from and
to - all eternity. He always was - always is - and always will be simultaneously whole.
There is absolutely nothing confusing about the one true God, because the one true
God is absolutely perfect and needs no confusing theology to understand Him.
In the one true God Who is indivisible and does not accrete.
Carmen